As they were walking from the scene of a relative's murder on July 27, 2010, Loushawntha Carr told Emanuel "Manny" Summers, "F-- the police -- we know why this happened and we'll get (them)," within earshot of a NOPD detective, according to prosecutors. Authorities soon accused Summers of committing a shooting that wounded two men, one of whom he believed had slain his family member, and killed another.

While a jury for Summers' murder trial was being seated Monday, prosecutors asked Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Camille Buras to let them introduce Carr's statement as evidence of a conspiracy to kill one of the shooting victims. The statement became more important to the prosecution's case after a witness who had previously identified Summers as the shooter was, as of Sunday, saying that he never actually saw who pulled the trigger on the murder weapon.

The defense objected to the introduction of Carr's alleged statement, and Buras denied the state's request. Prosecutors appealed the decision, but they were turned down late Tuesday morning. Then, within hours, the District Attorney's Office offered Summers and Carr plea deals, and the defendants accepted.

For a 15-year prison sentence in the case, Summers, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter, two counts of attempted manslaughter, one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle, one count of illegal possession of stolen things and one count of obstruction of justice.

He would have faced mandatory life imprisonment if convicted of murder. Summers also pleaded guilty to illegally possessing contraband, specifically beer, while in custody in Orleans Parish Prison in a separate case that stemmed from an investigation into infamous video footage that showed OPP inmates drinking alcohol, ingesting drugs and brandishing a gun.

In the meantime, Carr, 26, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to two years of active probation. The District Attorney's Office didn't comment on the plea deals Tuesday.

Michael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneEmanuel Summers, who police located at University Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the hand, tries to hide his face in his hospital gown as he is escorted to central lock-up by homicide detective Regina Williams in 2010.

Defense lawyer Jason Williams, who represented Summers and Carr alongside his associate Nandi Campbell, said, "This was a very good result for (Summers) given all the charges he was facing."

In court filings, prosecutors spelled out their belief that the shooting three years ago that killed Randy Nathan, 25; wounded his brother, Rydell Nathan, now 24; and injured his father, Rydell Bienaime, 48, was motivated by the murder of 25-year-old Mitchell McNeil Jr. two days earlier. McNeil was gunned down in his apartment in the 3500 block of Royal Street in Bywater.

While NOPD processed the scene, Detective Timothy Bender overheard Carr, McNeil's sister, tell Summers that they would get the person responsible, prosecutors said. According to the state, that person was Rydell Nathan. Summers and Carr drove off that day in a black Dodge Charger.

Rydell Nathan has never been arrested or charged in connection to McNeil's murder. Williams, the defense attorney, said Summers and Rydell Nathan have known each other for a long time.

At 2 a.m. on July 29, 2010, prosecutors said, Summers stole a Ford F-150 pickup truck in Baton Rouge. About 7 1/2 hours later, he pulled up next to and fired bullets at Rydell Nathan, Randy Nathan and Rydell Bienaime, who were in a truck at the corner of North Broad Street and A.P. Tureaud Avenue.

When the gunfire erupted, Bienaime, who was driving, jumped out of the truck and fell to the ground. Randy Nathan, seated next to the passenger door, died from multiple bullet wounds. Rydell Nathan, the middle passenger, slid behind the wheel and tried to drive off.

He turned onto Abundance Street and sped to Paris Avenue, where he lost control of the truck and struck a pole in front of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church. He then ran from the crash about eight-tenths of a mile and collapsed in front of a house before paramedics found him and took both him and his father to the hospital.

Elsewhere, Summers -- who police said inadvertently shot himself in the right hand during the attack on the Nathans and Bienaime -- lit the Ford F-150 on fire, prosecutors said. It was established that Carr then picked Summers up in a black Dodge Charger and drove him away.

A court affidavit notes that police quickly developed Summers as a suspect and included his picture in a photographic line-up presented to one of the surviving victims. That victim pointed at Summers as the gunman.

Police apprehended Summers at the hospital, where he sought help for the wound to his hand. On Nov. 18, 2010, a grand jury indicted Summers on one count of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

Carr was indicted on a count of accessory after the fact to second-degree murder. Separately, prosecutors charged Summers in a bill of information with one count each of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and illegal possession of stolen things.

The state was preparing to air its case against Summers when, about 4 p.m. on Sunday, Rydell Nathan went to the District Attorney's Office and said he only saw "glass shattering" when he, his brother and his dad were shot and then noticed a red F-150 driving away, according to a filing from prosecutor James Myers.

The state then unsuccessfully sought to introduce as evidence what Bender said he heard at the scene of McNeil's slaying, arguing it qualified as admissible hearsay.

After hearing the defense's objections, Buras ruled there was no evidence that proved a conspiracy existed between Summers and Carr, who were prosecuted by Myers and Assistant District Attorney Angad Ghai. The Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the judge's decision to deny the state.

Aside from admitting his role in Randy Nathan's death, Summers became the first defendant to plead guilty in a contraband case resulting from the airing of videos at a federal court hearing in April that depicted OPP inmates guzzling beer, abusing narcotics and unloading a handgun in a cell. Summers -- whose prior convictions include possession of cocaine and aggravated assault on a peace officer -- admitted he had beer in OPP between July 13 and July 18, 2009.